‘THE THOLIAN WEB’ (TOS)

Please feel free to comment on my review.

‘The Tholian Web’ is another gripping ‘Star Trek’ episode to watch from the original TV series. It has the Enterprise crew going mad with tantrums and it also has Kirk lost in outer space in a spacesuit.

The episode has the Enterprise finding its sister ship, the Defiant, lost in outer space and fading green all over. Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov beam over aboard the Defiant bridge to investigate.

But in the process, they discover that the Defiant is dissolving out of our universe as well as every dead crewmember on board. Kirk orders that Spock, Bones and Chekov beam back to the Enterprise.

As soon as Spock, Bones and Chekov beam back, they lose Captain Kirk in the process, as the Defiant fades out of our universe altogether. This arouses anxiety and anger among the Enterprise members on board.

The Enterprise soon gets caught by the Tholians in an energy web after they accuse them for trespassing in their space. Will the Enterprise escape the web as well as rescue Captain Kirk in space?

I liked seeing Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov in their spacesuits when they were aboard the Defiant. It’s rare to see ‘Star Trek’ characters in proper spacesuits and this feels like proper 1960s space drama.

By the way, if you want to know where the Defiant went once it disappeared from our universe, check out the two-part ‘Enterprise’ story ‘In a Mirror Darkly’. It ended up in the Mirror Universe, apparently.

This episode is where we get to meet the Tholians for the first time. Only one of them is seen on the Enterprise’s viewscreen when Spock talks to her. Loskene seems pretty static whilst on the viewscreen.

I can’t remember when the Tholians return to ‘Star Trek’ again, apart from the ‘In a Mirror Darkly’ two-part story from ‘Enterprise’. But they’re very good at creating energy webs, especially around the Enterprise ship.

Chekov is the first who goes berserk aboard the Enterprise after they lost Captain Kirk. This is due to a space sickness caught from the Defiant and it gets to be an epidemic that spreads to other crewmembers.

It was tense when Spock informed everyone at a service that Kirk is possibly no longer alive and a crewmember lashes out. Bones doubts and questions Spock when he assumes command of the ship.

I liked the interaction between Spock and Bones, as they’re clearly in disagreement with one another on how to handle the situation. It was good those two got to see Kirk’s last message in his quarters.

Kirk relates to Spock and Bones in his last message how he puts his trust in them both when taking command of the Enterprise once he’s gone. Bones says sorry to Spock for the harsh things he said to him.

There is a sense of growing dread and anxiety when it seems that Kirk is gone forever from the Enterprise. Spock is determined to keep onto the belief that Kirk is still alive, despite Bones’ doubts.

Uhura is the one who sees Kirk as a ghost before her in her bedroom mirror. She’s convinced that Kirk is still alive. I liked it that it’s Uhura who sees Kirk first, since she’s a very compassionate person.

Spock and Bones obviously don’t believe Uhura, until Scotty sees Kirk for himself in engineering. They then all see Kirk as a ghost on the bridge, confirming that he’s still alive as well as in outer space.

‘The Tholian Web’ is another gripping and tense ‘Star Trek’ episode to watch from the original TV series. I’m very pleased with how the Enterprise crew saved Kirk’s life and how they escaped from the energy web.

The DVD special features for this episode are as follows. On Disc 3 of both the original and remastered DVDs of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there’s a preview trailer for this episode.

‘The Tholian Web’ (TOS) rating – 8/10

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The previous story For ‘The Original Series’ was ‘For The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky’ (TOS) (TV)	The next story For ‘The Original Series’ is ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’ (TOS) (TV)
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